Photoluminescence from CdxHg1-xTe

We present important aspects of photoluminescence (PL) of CdxHg1-xTe in the infrared part of the spectrum where background thermal radiation significantly affects the PL spectrum. We show how the background spectrum can be removed from the data. We also show how the wavelength of the excitation laser affects the relative intensity of the PL peaks from a multi-layer structure. Finally, we present temperature dependent PL of a Cd0.36Hg0.64Te/Cd0.61Hg0.39Te multiple quantum well structure grown on a 4 μm thick Cd0.36Hg0.64Te buffer layer. We attribute the low temperature peak from the buffer layer to impurities. The impurity levels are depopulated as the temperature increases, resulting in a decreased PL peak intensity. Above ~200 K a band-to-band peak from the buffer layer is observed. The quantum well peak persists up to ~200 K.